Superior Nut Company and the Environment

"Superior Nut has a strong social and environmental commitment in its mission to produce the finest nut products in the world. We have been recognized with a prestigious Environmental Merit Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for our carbon-offset forest development in Central America. These forest plantations will eventually absorb all the carbon dioxide we emit as an energy consuming food manufacturing plant. This is an efficient model for every business in this country to reduce it's emissions that cause global warming." Harry Hintlian, President of Superior Nut Company, Inc. (Left, a 38-year old research planting on a farm in Costa Rica)

Fossil fuels are necessary for industry and commerce. Yet, one by-product of burning these fossil fuels is carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas which causes global warming. To stabilize the atmosphere, we must work towards creating a carbon-balanced community in which, in addition to energy efficiency and conservation, we balance emissions with long-term sequestration in productive farm forests.

"Climate change is the major global environmental challenge of our time. In order to deal with it in the most cost-effective way, we need to consider a range of solutions and that includes carbon storage in forests. If we ignore the potential for forest-based sequestration, any projection of the costs and feasibility of addressing climate change is going to be overly pessimistic and wrong." Eileen Claussen, Director of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Jan. 2005.

Together with Reforest The Tropics, Inc, a non-profit organization, Superior Nut has analyzed its emissions of carbon dioxide and funded forest plantations in Costa Rica designed to absorb its carbon dioxide emissions for the next 25-30 years and beyond.

Trees absorb carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, storing the carbon in the form of wood, and releasing oxygen back into the atmosphere. Tropical trees grow year-around and are especially cost-effective.

Long-term carbon storage in farm forests may be feasible if the forests are productive and profitable enough for the farmer to add this source of income permanently to his current crops.

Farmers benefit from the economic diversification expected from this Superior Co.-sponsored program, incentives for planting, free technical assistance to establish the forests, and help in managing their forests.

In addition to offsetting US CO2 emissions, the forests are designed to provide food for endangered wildlife, to be source of clean, steady-flowing water for local towns, and to offer opportunities for recreation.

Superior Nut was the first company in New England to establish new tropical forests to compensate for its carbon emissions in this manner. Superior Nut is proud of being the major sponsor of the activities of Reforest The Tropics; since 1997.

"Superior should be recognized for its significant role in funding the development of this option for managing U.S. carbon emissions. Reforest The Tropics has received several awards, and its program has been accepted for use in the State Of Connecticut. We look forward to the expansion of this model to other emitters in the coming years as the U.S. and its corporations begin to manage their emissions more effectively for the benefits of all." Dr Herster Barres, Director of Reforest The Tropics.

Planted in May of 2003, the forest is now 2 years and 7 months old. This 5-acre forest of Klinkii should sequester about 40- 60 tons of CO2 per year for the next 25 years in a contract with Hacienda Las Delicias for Superior in Cambridge, MA. Far left is a band of natural forest protecting a stream. To the right is another 2½-acre Superior forest of broadleaf native species, 3 years and 5 months old. These forests will be managed partly for wood, thinnings harvested for sale by the farmer, and partly for carbon sequestered and stored indefinitely in the live trees in the new forest stand to manage the carbon emissions of the U.S. sponsor, Superior Nut Co. in Cambridge, MA. Soon the forest canopy will close to absorb all of the solar energy that falls on this tropical site. This photo was taken on March 7, 2006.

APRIL 22, 2006 IN THE 2-YEAR, 11-MONTH OLD SUPERIOR NUT CARBON-OFFSET FOREST #3 IN COSTA RICA

Students visit this excellent 5-acre forest of Klinkii in the Las Delicias Farm to learn about managing the emissions of the major greenhouse gas, CO2. Superior Nut has sponsored the establishment of 36 acres of specialized forests in this program to offset the CO2 emissions of its factory in Cambridge, MA. This site was once a pasture. Today it is absorbing CO2 for the account of Superior Nut in a 25-year contract with this farm. The visitors are students from a graduate school in Costa Rica. Managed by Reforest The Tropics.

Sequestered carbon and wood are valuable products of our carbon-offset forests, but clean water is also important. Here, Colochos Sandi, a 6-year old Costa Rican girl, enjoys a pool of water after a long walk under the tropical sun to visit carbon-offset forests in the Las Delicias Farm in Pocora, Costa Rica. This stream, Quebrada Seca, is surrounded on both sides upstream by carbon-offset forests. March 6, 2005. Reforest the Tropics.

Research on fertilization sponsored by Superior and other emitters benefits educational institutions in the US. Here, one of the mixtures of tree species is being fertilized in a trial to learn how to increase its capacity to absorb more CO2. Part of the production of this forest will be harvested and sold for farmer income, while the rest will be held in the remaining forest stand, sequestering carbon for the account of the US emitter, Connecticut College. The tropics offer a significant option for sequestering US CO2 emissions in pasture reforestation projects in cooperation with farmers. The photo was taken on June 6th, 2006 in Las Delicias Farm in Costa Rica.

This photo shows one of several forests established through the sponsorship of the Superior Nut Co. to offset its CO2 emissions in new forests established in the tropics. In the foreground is a Klinkii tree, an unusually productive conifer for the tropics. In the background is a mixture of native species, less than 4 years old. In partnership with Reforest The Tropics, a Connecticut non-profit organization, Superior is sponsoring the development of a model to manage U.S. CO2 emissions through tropical pasture reforestation projects. By combining profitability for farmers with sequestration for emitters in the U.S., RTT expects both parties to benefit.

"Superior Nut is the major donor to the Reforest The Tropics Program. This generosity allows us, not only to establish and manage its forests, but to carry on other parts of the RTT program: (1) Research in Costa Rica on making carbon-offset forests more wildlife friendly; (2) Establish demonstration forests for school programs in the U.S. in which we tell students about climate change and the role the forests can play in sequestering and storing U.S. CO2 emissions; (3) Visit other U.S. entities such as the University of Connecticut Law School and the University of Vermont Law School to give lectures and carry out CO2 emission inventories. The staff of RTT appreciates the support of Superior Nut and the Hintlian family." Dr Herster Barres, Director of Reforest The Tropics.

For more information on how to participate, contact Reforest The Tropics, Inc. c/o Superior Nut Company,

E-Mail:	Info@SuperiorNut.com
Toll Free:	800-251-6060
Phone:	617-876-3808
Fax:	617-876-8225
Mail:	Superior Nut Co. 225 Monsignor O'Brien Hwy. PO Box 410086 Cambridge, MA 02141